Chapter Twenty-Four
Mason
I slam my hands against the table and send the glass flying into the nearest wall. Shards fly in every direction, and a pool of liquid forms on the hardwood floors beneath me. I curl my hands into fists and look at Carlisle, who hasn’t flinched.
“What the fuck do you mean they’re going to cut us out?”
“I reached out to a few guys I know on the inside,” Carlisle replies after a brief pause. “So far, they’re just rumors, but they have reason to believe that the Fitzpatricks and Everetts are moving forward with a new alliance.”
Those bastards.
As if moving in on our territory isn’t bad enough.
Now, they’re muscling us out of an arrangement that goes back decades.
I should’ve known the meeting at the club wouldn’t be enough of a peace offering, not with this deal threatening to derail everything.
A small voice in the back of my mind wonders if it’s because I pushed them too far.
First at the docks and then with the disastrous meeting conducted days ago.
How am I going to fix this?
“Find out more,” I order, shaking my head. “Bring me Michael Everett.”
Carlisle’s brows furrow together. “Sir?”
“Are you fucking deaf? I want Michael Everett here. I don’t care how you do it. Just make it happen.”
If I have to go out and hunt him down myself, this is all going to go sideways very quickly.
I’m hanging on by a thin thread when an hour later, Michael storms into the office, half unshaven, and with an apron tied around his neck. “You better have a damn good reason for sending your watchdog to summon me the way you did.”
“I have every reason,” I tell him coldly. “It’s come to my attention that your family and the Fitzpatricks have been meeting a lot.”
Michael rips off the apron and studies his reflection in the nearest mirror. “We’re allies. We’re discussing some finer details that don’t concern you.”
I ball my hands into fists. “Those details don’t happen to include cutting us out of the business, do they?”
Michael slowly turns to face me. “Of course not.”
I cross over to Michael. “Are you sure about that? If I find out you’re lying, you won’t like what happens next.”
Michael draws himself up to his full height. “You’re not going to do anything.”
I curl my hand into a fist and hold it to my face, disdain dripping from every word. “That little dock wouldn’t have flourished if it weren’t for our funding. Do you know what would happen if I pulled funding to it as well as to the marinas and wharves?”
Michael scowls. “Same thing that would happen if we stopped you from being able to use our trucking company. I doubt you want your business to take that kind of hit.”
I shove Michael, red-hot anger coursing through me. “You conniving, manipulative piece of shit. Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”
Michael puffs out his chest and grins. “I know exactly what I’m doing, and I’d have the Fitzpatricks’ backing, too. It would be a shame if you had to learn how to run the business without being able to use the services only we provide.”
A hard knot settles in the pit of my stomach. “That sounds like a threat, but I know you can’t be that stupid.”
He knows damn well that if they sink me, I’ll take them all down with me.
Even if it means blowing the lid on everything.
Suddenly, my composure doesn’t seem to matter. Neither does staying on their good side.
I have no intention of being humiliated and stabbed in the back.
If I can’t succeed, neither will they.
Think this through, Payne. You don’t want this to fail any more than they do.
Except I’m not sure they care about the stakes of going to war. Not if they’re already looking for another ally. Maybe they want someone smaller and easier to bully.
Michael’s expression shifts to one of cool calculation. “It doesn’t have to be. You’ve been trying to prove you’re nothing like your father. Now’s your chance.”
I give him a bored look. “You have one minute to explain.”
What the hell is he talking about?
I thought they loved dealing with my father because he’s much more amenable.
My father is as ruthless and cunning as they come, and his name still inspires fear in my heart, but he also doesn’t mind taking a few hits to keep things moving.
I, on the other hand, am seriously reconsidering this alliance.
You can’t afford to go to war with them, Payne. Regardless of their tactics or how much of a pain in the ass they are. You know it, and so do they. The only thing you can do is play it cool and make it seem like you’re still in control.
I might not be calling the shots, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.
Everett and his lackey have another thing coming if they think they can pull one over on me.
Michael takes a step back and rolls his shoulders. “The deals our families struck have been in place for decades. Don’t you think it’s time we renegotiate?”
I raise an eyebrow. “I assume you have specific terms in mind.”
Fucking hell.
This is what they’ve been gunning for? A bigger piece of the pie?
I might’ve underestimated them after all. How did I not see this coming? I can usually spot ambition and deception a mile away.
Michael shrugs. “Perhaps. It depends on how amenable you are. We could continue to have a beneficial partnership.”
I growl. “Stop beating around the fucking bush.”
“We believe a share of the profit is only fair.”
“You son of a bitch.” I advance on him, and Michael wheels around to face me, the smug smile falling from his lips. “You’ve been gunning for this all along, haven’t you? You never had any intention of honoring the deal.”
Even if a new deal is long overdue, I’m not going to let him think he can’t honor the alliance, especially not one as old as ours.
There’s a time and a place for negotiations, and it’s certainly not when Michael Everett decides it is.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he says.
I tower over him, so he’s boxed between me and the bookcase, and fear and uncertainty are oozing off him in spades. “I can smell a rat a mile away, Everett, and I hate it when people lie to me, but I guess you haven’t learned a thing.”
Michael frowns. “What are you—”
I pin him against the wall. “Don’t even think about lying to me again. I will put a bullet through your head before you have a chance to finish the sentence. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.”
Right now, I’m dying to make him pay.
I have a sinking feeling he’s the reason behind a lot of my problems, including not being able to find a decent front, and while I know that killing him would only make things worse, I can’t think straight through my anger.
Michael Everett has a habit of stoking my bloodlust.
Ambitious bastard.
He has no idea how close I am to snuffing the light out of his eyes.
Michael’s expression is blank as his eyes sweep over me. “Yeah, you could, but then you’d have a much larger problem on your hands. I doubt you want to go to war with us.”
For someone whose life is no longer in his own hands, he’s awfully cavalier about the whole thing.
What does he know that I don’t?
What contingencies does he have in place?
I grab him by the scruff of his neck and shake him hard. “I’ll do what I fucking need to do, and I won’t hesitate. One less problem to worry about.”
Fear isn’t an emotion I’m used to, or one I like.
I want him cowering at my feet.
Michael swallows, and some of his certainty slips away. “Be smart about this, Payne. We’re offering you a golden opportunity.”
Does he think he could just waltz in here and make me turn my back on everything I’ve helped build? As if I’d ever trust them after the stunts they keep pulling?
Going back on one deal is bad enough.
Entering into a deal with them a second time would make me naive or desperate, and I’m neither.
I shake him again, and his teeth rattle. “You’re trying to get a share of profits you haven’t earned. Money you shouldn’t go anywhere near. Do you know what happens when you overreach in our line of work?”
Michael lifts his chin. “You sink or swim.”
I press my face closer to his. “Feeling lucky, you son of a bitch? What if I just throw you in the deep end and we test that theory?”
Even if I have to hold his head down myself, I’m eager to teach him a lesson.
How long has he been planning this?
How long has he been lurking in the shadows and watching?
And how much of my inability to find another spot did he orchestrate?
Fucking hell, Payne. You should’ve been able to sniff this a mile away.
Michael pales. “I’m more valuable to you alive than dead.”
Michael is finally realizing that he’s at a disadvantage.
Having him brought to my office wasn’t just about getting to the bottom of what’s happening.
He knows I can end his life with a snap of my fingers, and have it covered up.
I only need to whisper into the right ears, and the Everetts will be scrambling to make things right with us again, barely giving their fallen comrade a second glance.
“Maybe, but I can easily broker a deal with your girlfriend. I’m sure he’d be more than willing to amend the terms once he hears how our meeting went.”
A shadow settles over Michael’s face, and his expression hardens. “You’d risk war over this?”
I release him, take my gun out of its holster, and point it at his head. “Care to find out?”
Michael throws up his hands in panic. “Don’t be fucking stupid. It’s a fair deal. You already make a lot of money—”
I remove the safety and crack my neck. “Five… four…”
“Come on.”
“Three… two…”
“Fine,” Michael yells. “You win, you bastard.”
I inch closer and fire, and the bullet whizzes past his ear, clipping him. “That’s not good enough. Don’t lose your nerve now, Everett. This was just getting interesting.”
He won’t walk out of here thinking he has the upper hand.
With my fingers closed around the gun, nothing can touch me, especially not Michael fucking Everett.
Michael touches his ear, and it comes back red. “You’re insane.”
“And you’re a fucking moron. How about you try not insulting the man who’s waving a gun at you?”